Need help Trad climbing using "Monkey Fist" knots.

I've top-roped 22 times this past year and feel ready to take on the challenges that traditional climbing offers. However, I am broke so buying any of those cam devices is off the table. A guy at my local gym told me the best way to trad climb on a budget whilst preserving the integrity of the rock is to use monkey fist knots as protection while climbing. I have started making monkey fists out of various sized rope and am hoping i'll have enough to do some 5.11-5.12 multi-pitch in a couple weeks.

If you guys have any suggestions regarding monkey fist placement, how many monkey fists you use, etc. please let me know. I'm looking to absorb some good information from you veteran climbers out there.

-Chaz Sochen

one of the best opening statements i have ever read on an MP post

On the very slight off chance that this isn't a joke, your better off slinging some hardware nuts with 6mm cord if your on that much of a budget. Even then, though, it's probably a very bad idea to fall. And if you do fall and it manages to hold you, it's probably time to bail. Or better yet just free solo some stuff. That'll get you motivated not to fall

YER GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!

no seriously

I hear they use them in Connecticut as a means of being "old school" and truly "trad".

javd wrote:I hear they use them in Connecticut as a means of being "old school" and truly "trad".

The true CT way is to top rope the line 222 times, then put a bolt or two in and lead it, then chop it. thats trad.

Now back to the OP, monkey fists are good but slinging chunks of wood and rock to use as stoppers is better.

If you get a "job," you can buy gear.

Isn't (or wasn't) here a place in Germany or Austria where this is all you were allowed to use. Seems like I read a few things years ago about it.

T-0

I think th OP is trolling, but....

supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

elllocesaqui.wordpress.com/…

Dresdan Germany would be the best place to learn the art of Monkey fists. Although, it seems like if you can't figure out how to do Monkey fists on your own, you probably shouldn't be doing it at all. It is a pretty intuitive craft requiring little teaching.

I know OP is trolling, but I think this does bring out an interesting issue.

Why do some people have such an aversion to using knots as protection? This is a very real thing that is still practiced. And I view this as similar to the aversion of hexes in the days of cams, I have met people that would never use a hex because they are "unsafe." I still argue that cams are not inherently safer, you can still find a fantastic spot to place a cam and place it poorly such that it is unsafe, but some people think that because they put a cam in then they are safe. Even still there are some places where a hex could actually be safer than a cam, (and places where a cam is safer than a hex) and I'm sure there are times that a knot is better than a stopper. Yet people scoff at anyone carrying hexes, probably knots too, at most climbing areas in the US (that I have been to). Why is that? And maybe I just need to meet better people to climb with.

I dig the new route name "How Many Monkey Fists?"

New career opportunity for you old navy guys - making pro for Monkey Fist Gear :)

Brady3 wrote:This is a very real thing that is still practiced.

Only really in areas where the local ethics dictate that you don't use metal pro. Not that knots can't work, but modern gear is better in all aspects except cost and maybe weight.

Brady3 wrote:I have met people that would never use a hex because they are "unsafe."

I have yet to meet someone who didn't use hexes because they were "unsafe," most climbers prefer cams because they are easier to place and more versatile. I guess if you're pushing your limits on terrain that doesn't eat up passive gear hexes could be less safe.

My first rack was a set of nuts and a set of hexes - parallel sided cracks were scary as heck. I was VERY happy when Friends came out. A well placed hex is bomber but really hard or impossible to set in a perfect parallel crack.

I always go passive over cams etc. I would have no problem using knots but my nuts will probably last alot longer and i am not to worried about them getting worn out like a knot jammed into a crack.

However i also know tons of routes that will not hold passive gear.

This is what happens when you make the troll too blatant. For reference, this is how it's done, rockclimbinglife.wordpress.com, just the right mix of pitch-perfect lunacy and simple naivete to make you legitimately wonder if its for real.

ded-troll gon go be ded now ya hear

I was going to post my real-life story about how I've rapped off of prussic knots jammed into a crack when I realized that the better way to setup this troll would be to use rapping off of knots as a way to "save money" instead of the more obvious I've toproped x amount of times and now I'm going to go do trad with knots to save money.

RC.com is under new ownership and looking to rebuild its community. I think that this would be a great question to ask over there. I have a feeling that there is a higher percentage of monkey fisters over there than on MP.com.

BTW, there is no need to use that overpriced climbing rope when making your gear. Home Depot makes a great monkey fisting rope. I hear that the Home Depot sponsored Everest expedition used this rope on their recent ascent, and so will Nick Cienski and his Mission14 ( mission14.org ) team.

Hang in there and keep on fisting!